55 Gallon Planted tank Log

[SparKy697]

 

[redswi]

I like it!!! The back blends into the substrate making the tank look larger

 

[neilanh]

Very nice. Is that your new driftwood?

Also, where do you get your rocks?

 

[plecoperson]

WOW--gorgeous. What a great job you did [applause]!!

 

[SparKy697]

Very nice. Is that your new driftwood?

Also, where do you get your rocks?

Yes that is the driftwood I got off of ebay for $8.00

I comb the landscape places for rocks. Up until today I have had good luck. I think next time I will take my vinegar with me.

WOW--gorgeous

Thanks. I'm really enjoying this one.

 

[SparKy697]

So happy I decided to get the plants up and running before adding fish. Checked water last night just before lights out and to my surprise I was up over 80ppm CO2 ! I ran over to look at my regulator and the bubble counter had almost a steady stream of bubbles that were far too fast to ever count. I'm not sure what to make of this except to chalk it up to breaking in the regulator/needle valve.

I'm not sure how fish would have dealt with this but it seems like the plants just love it!

 

[drobertson]

Tank is coming along nicely, can not wait to see it grow in.

 

[SparKy697]

Perhaps I have lost my mind! More plants 8O

I think I like diversity, and I thing it shows in the plants in this photo. Everything is starting to grow and seems to be happy. Some new arrivals in the form of the crypts on the left side as well as ones scattered in the middle. Still figuring this out so placement may not be perfect yet. Oh and added my home made rock cave too. I'm thinking of covering it with some moss to add some interest.

The water is slightly stained from the larger piece of driftwood. Not a problem for me actually and most of it goes away with the weekly water changes. Eventually it will stop.

No fish yet, I'm thinking of getting a few though to add some movement to the tank. I'm hoping I have enough plants now that a cycle won't really be needed.

 

[neilanh]

That's gorgeous man, Congratulations!

 

[rich311k]

Very nice. If you start slow you should not have a cycling problem. You have a pretty good plant mass in there.

 

[plecoperson]

Just beautiful! Thanks for the update, and looking forward to more.

 

[SparKy697]

Thanks for all of the nice words! I really have no way to visualize what this will look like when it is done. I have pretty much put plants where I think they will look good. As I gain experience I hope to be able to lay out the plantings with a little purpose right from the start.
Yeah right.....

 

[plecoperson]

I think even the very experienced plantspeople here make lots of adjustments as the plants grow out. And no matter what you do, that tank is going to be just spectacular!

 

[SparKy697]

Update - 2/11/2007

Bought a few plants and was told that some of them had a little staghorn algae on them. I treated with a very strong bath of excel and thought I had taken care of it....

It's only a few plants and I have since removed the leaves and in some cases even whole plants that were infected.

Live and learn.

Did some pruning and moving around this weekend. I think it's starting to come together.

 

[plecoperson]

Sparky, those are "Nymphoides sp. 'TAIWAN'"; if you want 'em not to shoot to the top, snip off the ones that are making a break for it. Then it will eventually give up and stay more compact.

Your tank looks BEAUTIFUL-really coming along!!

 

[SparKy697]

Ahh, so not frogbit. I see the difference.

Actually I like the way they look. I have snipped a few of them that have gotten out of hand but I plan on letting it do its thing. It is in a part of the tank that gets no surface agitation so that it will hopefully not spread across the whole tank. If it does I have scissors

One of the pieces I trimmed was over 3 ft long lol.

 

[SparKy697]

A new picture to show how things are growing in. I think the plants need a bit of color contrast, I'm planning on adding some plants with a good red color to them.

Any suggestions for this tank (aside from fish)? There is something missing that I just can not put my finger on.

I do have a plan for fish but it's taking a bit longer than expected to get breeders lined up. The main fish will be GBRs and Koi Angels. Plus some other peaceful fish for the mid areas of the tank.

More caves or hiding places? Or maybe something a little unique for plants? I'm just not happy with the look at this point.

 

[kaaikop]

Wow!! that tank is really taking off!
Quite a garden you got there, beautiful arrangement of plants!
Perhaps you would want to try some low, creeping foreground plant, like the Glossostigma?

Keep it up, that is one awesome looking tank! 8)

 

[neilanh]

I think it looks great.

One thing I did notice maybe (and I'm not criticizing by any means) is it's kinda like you have all tall plants, so theres no breaking up the foreground and the background?

I dunno, just a thought...

 

[SparKy697]

hmm That is a good point neilan.

I think I will look for some mid sized plants. I like the idea of ground cover too, I just have not found anything I really like yet.